The lion

The lion is a mammal of the family Felidae and one of the four large cats of the genus Panthera, and it is the second largest cat in the world after the tiger, with a mass of more than 250 kg (550 lb) males. Most of the wild lions remaining today live in sub-Saharan Africa, and one small, critically endangered population still lives in Asia in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. The habitat of lions was previously very vast, having been found in North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia, where they became extinct only a few centuries ago. Until the beginning of the modern era (the Holocene, about 10,000 years ago), lions were considered the most widespread major land mammal after humans, as they were found in most parts of Africa, much of Eurasia from Western Europe to India, and in the Americas, from Yukon to Peru .

The life span of lions varies according to their sex. Lionesses living in safe protected areas such as the Kruger National Park may reach between 12 and 14 years, if they overcome the dangers and hardships of the life of the cubs, while the males rarely exceed 8 years of their life. However, there are documents showing that some lionesses lived to the age of 20 years in the wild. Lions usually inhabit savannahs and grasslands, but they may be found in crested lands and woodlands on occasion. Lions are considered highly social animals compared to the rest of the members of the felid family. The family group of lions is called "zimra" in Arabic, and it consists of females related to each other by kinship (sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers...), a number of young children, and a few males. extreme. The group of females mostly hunt together, preying mainly on major ungulates, but they may resort to neutering if given the opportunity. The lion is considered a superior or primary predator (it is not preyed upon by any other living creature), and a primary or baptismal species (of the types of animals in which the existence of the rest of the species is based in balance on their presence with them in a particular ecosystem). Although lions do not consider humans their natural prey and often avoid them, some lions have been known to become human eaters in certain cases.